What next?

WHAT, not a holiday today to mark the birthday of Dr. Jose Rizal? Too many holidays and long weekends can be exhausting, not to mention expensive.

The “war” goes on, and the next step is the President’s wish to arm barangay captains – all 42,000-plus of them?

Including the ones on PDEA’s list? And whatever happened to the high-profile Narco Generals? Mr. President, should we then also arm Catholic priests, and what about government prosecutors, of whom 15 have been killed in the last 26 years?

The most recent attack on a prosecutor happened June 4, when an assistant special prosecutor, Office of the Ombudsman, was stabbed three times as she was buying milk tea at a store on Visayas Ave. in Quezon City. The killing of Madonna Joy Tanyag, 33, married, five months pregnant, who was handling a string of cases, some of them very high-profile, was quickly declared “solved” by the police after the suspect confessed. Police believed his statement that he had merely tried to rob her. Case closed.

Case closed? Dante Jimenez, formerly of the anti-crime watchdog, does not believe it, nor should citizens who are only belatedly paying tribute to Ms. Tanyag’s muted heroism as a public servant imbued with a strong sense of duty, courage, and determination to punish the guilty and clear the innocent. According to Dante, the suspect has a police record as long as his arm, has been in and out of jail, with a lifestyle and experience that vice lords find most highly suitable to their needs. Dante sees something more sinister in the murder, not homicide.

The next step? Prosecutor Tanyag’s “compañeros” should pursue Dante’s cause and reopen the case. From beyond the grave, the victim deserves nothing less from the law and her fellow-lawyers.

What’s next for Mocha Uson, Malacañang’s most communicative personality? After her spat with that other communicator, Kris Aquino, after she was reassured of the President’s trust and confidence, after she refused to apologize publicly, has she had it? Word is she’s thinking about switching to a different platform, though Secretary Martin Andanar has not been informed of her plan to pack up and leave. We’ll know in a week or two, when we hear her voice on a daily basis, no holds barred. Unless, like the opinionated woman that she is, she changes her mind.